Running
by HelloDenmark
Summary: This happens before Mikan came to Gakuen Alice. Narumi, Natsume and Persona are playing a game but what happens when it's Natsume's life that's at stake? Kan Narumi save him in time?
1. coming back

Running

Natsume ran through the forest, going in between trees trying to get away. His hand held tightly around his stomach trying to stop the constant stream of blood.

_I think I lost him – Natsume thought._

He looked behind him and saw no sign of Persona. But even though that was the case he kept running faster and faster. He soon came out of the forest, and now stood in front of the dorms. Natsume fell to his knees gasping from exhaustion. His vision got blurry.

_Damn, I need to hide before he finds me!_

He saw a window that stood open. He quickly recognized it as Ruka's room. He had no other choice if he wanted to get away. Natsume jumped onto a tree and climbed up until he came to Ruka's window. Then he carefully slipped inside before checking after Persona. He couldn't see him, luckily. Natsume closed the window and drew the curtains.

"Natsume?" He heard Ruka say, so he turned around. Ruka was sitting on the bed reading.

"Hey…" Natsume muttered weakly, as he felt a wave of pain coming from his stomach. He leaned on the wall for support. Ruka saw that Natsume was hurt; he had scratches and cuts everywhere.

"Natsume. What are you doing here? Are you okay? I haven't seen you all week." Ruka asked tossing the book aside and standing up.

"I'm fine." Natsume said and pulled the curtain up a little so he could check if Persona was outside. He wasn't. Natsume felt relieved and let go of the curtain just as a pang of pain hit him. Natsume winced and fell to his knees. His arm slid a little off his stomach and Ruka saw the large patch of blood. It was obviously the most serious of his wounds.

"Natsume!" Ruka said shocked and went over to inspect his stomach, "We need to get you to the hospital!"

"No! Don't… He'll… Find me…" Natsume whispered faintly with a hint of desperation, he then slumped unconsciously against Ruka.

_Is it Persona who's after him? I better do as Natsume says or else something bad could happen to him. – Ruka thought._

Ruka gently laid Natsume down on the floor and went inside his bathroom to get his emergency kit. He took care of the wounds to the best of his abilities. While he worked tears slipped down his cheeks without him having any way of stopping it.

_Natsume was the strong one, not him. This was the only thing he could do to repay his friend, take care of his wounds when he came home hurt. He was useless. Natsume was out there risking his life partially for him and all he could do was cry and be weak. He was sick of it! – Ruka thought._

Ruka rolled bandage around Natsume's stomach and pulled his bloodstained shirt off to replace it with one of his own. He locked the door and turned off the light and then went to sleep beside Natsume.

"Good night." He muttered. Then he fell asleep grasping Natsume's hand.

"There you are Natsume." Persona said and smiled mischievously. He walked over to the sleeping figure of Natsume and put his hand tightly across Natsume's mouth. Natsume woke up with a start and stared desperately at Persona.

"Shhh…" Persona put a finger to his mouth and then pointed at Ruka. Natsume saw the silent threat that played in Persona's eyes. His thoughts were in despair but he forced his gaze to stay cold and calm. Persona took his hand off Natsume's mouth and walked slowly to the door. Natsume sat up and followed him trying to be as quiet as possible so he wouldn't wake Ruka.

After Natsume went outside Persona locked the door to Ruka's room. So he wouldn't come running after them. Persona turned towards the exit and began moving towards it, quietly so he wouldn't wake any other students this late at night. Natsume followed along behind him. He heard Ruka banging on the door and shouting his name but he didn't turn around.

As soon as they came outside Persona pushed Natsume hard up against the wall. His eyes made lightning as they stared coldly into Natsume's. Natsume stared back the best he could. Then without warning Persona raised his hand and smacked Natsume hard across the cheek. Natsume gave a yelp of surprise, but he quickly returned his gaze to Persona's.

"How dare you hide from me?" Persona's cold voice sounded.

Suddenly Persona's head snapped to the other side. Natsume tilted his head a little to see what he was staring at and his eyes landed on Narumi who had just moved into sight. Narumi was staring at them. It didn't take long for Persona to hit Natsume again and drag him into the northern forest. Natsume had to run to keep up with him.

Finally they stopped as they came into a clearing. Natsume was panting and pressing his arm against his stomach as he felt blood soak his bandages. He almost fell to his knees; the only thing that kept him on his feet was the determination that he didn't want to look weak in front of Persona.

"What do you want?" Natsume demanded, he knew he probably should have just kept quiet but he couldn't refrain himself from asking the question.

Persona shoved Natsume against the nearest tree, "You fail to keep my rules in a mission and then you run from punishment. Now you speak impolitely to me. You really do want me to hurt you, don't you? Right Natsume?"

"If I wanted you to hurt then why did I run from punishment?" Natsume muttered.

Suddenly Persona's two hands wrapped themselves tightly around Natsume's neck choking him.

"Seems like you've grown fond of talking I think this is the only way to shut you up." His hands squeezed Natsume's neck tighter. Natsume's hands unconsciously made their way to Persona's hands and tried to pull them off. At last when Natsume almost couldn't hold his breath any longer he heated his hands up with his Alice and forced Persona to let go. Natsume was sent to his knees hacking, coughing and gasping for breath. Persona stood there for a couple of minutes allowing Natsume to catch his breath. Then he punched Natsume so hard that he fell onto his side on the grass.

"That's what you get for burning me."

Persona kicked Natsume hard on the shoulder.

"That's what you get for disobeying me."

Persona kicked Natsume in the chest.

"Running."

Persona kicked Natsume right in his wound.

"Argh…" Natsume groaned as Persona's foot hit him. Natsume curled up gasping trying to shield his wound from any more attacks. His stomach throbbed with pain.

"That was just because I wanted to."

Persona, who had walked a little away from, came running towards him and with speed and strength he kicked Natsume on his wound again.

"Ahh!" Natsume screamed through gritted teeth. He pressed his hand on his wound to try and stop the bleeding. His shirt was already soaked.

"That's enough!" Narumi ran into the clearing, "Let him go!"

"Who are you to command me?" Persona laughed. He went over to Natsume and pulled a knife out, he pulled up his shirt over the bandage and slit a cross into Natsume's skin. Natsume grimaced in pain but didn't say anything. "See he's mine. I have my mark on him."

"You bastard." Narumi said venomously.

Persona walked towards him knife posed and ready to use. Natsume stared into Narumi's blue eyes, he could see panic rising as Persona came closer. Natsume was just about bleeding everywhere.

_He tried to help me, but he can't. No one can. Even so, thank you Narumi. – Natsume thought._

Narumi jerked back shocked as a wall of fire suddenly appeared between him and Persona. He looked over at Natsume, and met Natsume's eyes immediately. He was staring at him with determined half closed eyes. He looked like he was about to loose consciousness.

"Natsume, remove your flames." Persona demanded. Natsume only made them higher so they totally shielded Narumi from view.

"Do it now."

Natsume didn't. _Why am I helping him? I'm getting in danger by doing it so why? Why bother? Something just told me that I had to do it, so I did it. The way his eyes were looking at me, they were practically screaming for help. I guess I'm just that type of person._

Persona stepped away from Narumi and over towards Natsume.

"How dare you defy me?" He threatened.

He came over to Natsume and surprisingly he put the knife back into his pocket.

"Better not let my little cat die of blood loss."

Persona took hold of Natsume's collar and dragged him up; Natsume had no strength to fight back. He then threw Natsume into the nearest tree.

"Gah!" Natsume exclaimed as he hit the tree trunk. He hit his head hard, and sank to the ground.

Persona came up to him and lifted his head, "We're not finished. As soon as the doctors patch you well enough up I'll come and get you. It's time for some punishment. You can choose yourself who am I going to punish you? Or your little friend?"

"Punish me as much as you want just don't hurt him…" Natsume muttered. His head was pounding so hard he thought he had cracked it in half.

"Good." Persona said and punched him to the ground one last time. Natsume felt himself land on his side; his right hand was covered in blood from his wound. He felt darkness take him. The last thing he saw before he fainted was Persona walking away from both Narumi and him.

The wall of fire grew higher around Narumi. He didn't know why Natsume had decided to protect him but he was worried for Natsume's sake. Now Persona was seriously pissed. Narumi heard Persona ask Natsume too remove his flames. _Just do it Natsume. I'll be fine. _But Natsume didn't stop.

The next thing he heard was I high bang like something hit a tree. He heard Natsume's exclaim.

"Natsume just let me out!" Narumi tried to shout, but the flames muted the sound.

There were more sounds from outside but Narumi couldn't make out what they were saying.

Suddenly the flames vanished. Narumi saw Natsume lying unconscious under a tree; he then looked around for Persona before running towards Natsume. He could hear Natsume breathing faintly. He was covered in small wounds but one of his hands was covered in blood.

_Where did that come from? – Narumi thought._

He lifted Natsume's shirt over the bandages and discovered that they were soaked in blood.

"Shit!" He exclaimed. Natsume was a child, his body couldn't bear loosing so much blood and on top of all the other wounds. Narumi recognized the spot to be the place where Persona had kicked Natsume just as he had run into the clearing.

Narumi took one of his shirts off and tied it around Natsume's stomach in attempt to stop the bleeding. Then he carried Natsume off towards the hospital.

Narumi went inside the hospital, and a nurse came running towards him.

"Put him on that hospital bed." She instructed. Soon a doctor came.

"What's his condition?"

"Critical. Various cuts all over his body, head trauma and a large wound to the abdomen." The nurse replied and pointed to various wounds.

Natsume opened his pain struck eyes and looked at Narumi.

"Ruka…" He whispered barely audible, he was about to say some more but the doctors rushed him into the ER.

_Did something happen to Ruka too? – Narumi thought._

He ran out the door and towards the dorm. He guessed he should start by searching Ruka's room. It was 3 o'clock in the mourning so he guessed all the students would be sleeping. Finally he came to the 3 stars room. He stopped at the door where there stood Ruka Nogi, and tried to open the door. It was locked. Narumi fished his keys up from his pocket and unlocked the door.

"Natsume you're back…" Ruka came running from the other side of the room his face full of happiness until he saw that it was Narumi then he stopped and his face fell.

"What are you doing here?" Ruka asked him. Narumi noticed traces of tears down his cheeks.

"You look fine." Narumi stated.

"Why shouldn't I be? Have you seen Natsume?" Ruka asked coldly.

"Yeah, Natsume is in the hospital. He whispered your name before they took him into the ER. I was just checking if you were okay."

"What?" Ruka asked horrified. Then he went to get his jacket and ran out the door in the direction of the hospital. Narumi ran after him.

_Uhh… Body hurts. Am I still in the forest? _Natsume opened his eyes; he met the familiar white ceilings of the academy's hospital. He felt that he had an oxygen mask on so he tore it off. His vision was a little foggy so he blinked to get everything back in focus. He saw Ruka sleeping with his head resting on the side of the bed. Natsume sat up slowly, grimacing in pain from his wound. A hand reached out, grabbed his shoulder and pushed him back down onto the bed. It was Narumi.

"Don't push yourself." Narumi smiled, "Welcome back."

Natsume stared at him and then reached up to hold his forehead, he felt bandage around his head. "…How long have I been out?"

"No more than a couple of hours. The sun is rising."

"Hn… Has he been here?" Natsume asked, meaning Persona.

"No, why should he?" Narumi asked confused.

"Never mind…"

They stood in silence for a couple of minutes. Natsume checked all his wounds and found himself in bandage just about everywhere. He ran his hand over his stomach to soothe the pain coming from behind the bandage. They had stitched he wound together.

"Why did you save me back then Natsume?"

Natsume smirked at him. "Are you delusional, idiot?"

"What?" Narumi asked confused.

Just then a doctor came inside the noise from the door opening woke Ruka up.

"Natsume, you're awake!" Ruka said happily and threw his arms around him careful not to touch any wounds, though it was a little difficult.

"Good you're awake." The doctor said, "If you don't mind then I need to have a word with Natsume alone."

Ruka and Narumi nodded and went outside the door.

"You have a minor concussion so you have to stay in the hospital for at least a couple of days. Also the wound to your stomach is quite serious so you can't do anything physically straining for about a weak until it heals. All your other cuts and bruises have been taken care of and disinfected. Also something we discovered too is that you have the forth type of Alice."

"Thank you for stating the obvious." Natsume said ironically.

"You knew this already?" The doctor asked surprised.

"Of course I knew it's my body." Natsume replied growing impatient.

"Why didn't you tell the hospital?"

"Seriously what difference could it make? Are you done soon?"

"Fine. This is obviously something you're not so fond of discussing. How far are you?" The doctor asked.

"Far?" Natsume grumbled.

"Have you started coughing blood?"

"What does it matter to you?" Natsume snapped.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"…" _That's it I hate this doctor._

"I'll bring some pill's to your room later." The doctor said and walked out the door. After that Ruka came into the room again.

"Narumi had to go. He told me to say thank you and goodbye. Why thank you?" Ruka asked curiously with his head tilted.

"How should I know that damn perverted teacher?" Natsume grumbled still pissed after the visit from the doctor.

"What did the doctor say?"

"That damn idiot doctor I have no idea why they even hired him." Natsume said seriously.

"Okay… So I guess you have to stay here for a week or something like that?"

"At least 2 days, I swear I'll kill that doctor before the time runs out."

"I'm sure you will." Ruka said ironically and sat down.


	2. searching

2 days later.

Ruka and Natsume were walking home towards the dorms. It was evening and the moon had just risen.

"I still think you should have stayed a little longer in the hospital Natsume." Ruka argued.

"You're right I should. I never got the chance to kill that doctor." Natsume replied.

Ruka frowned at him.

"I mean it seriously. You shouldn't even be walking. Your wounds haven't healed completely yet and what if Persona wants you to do a mission or something?" Ruka asked terrified wondering if it was ok for him to bring that topic up.

Natsume smiled at him, "I'll be fine. Don't worry."

"But-" Ruka frowned.

Natsume pulled Ruka's cheeks out to either side, "I'll be fine. Don't make that face." He ordered. Ruka looked reluctant but still managed a smile so they could keep on walking. His thoughts were still in doubt though.

"Can you sleep with me tonight Natsume?" Ruka asked so that he could keep an eye on him and hide him from Persona.

Natsume looked back and stared at him trying to discover the reason for him asking. Ruka had put on the best 'I'm scared expression', "Okay." He agreed.

"Thanks."

They walked in silence to Natsume's room to get his pajamas. Natsume unlocked the door and went to the drawer. He pulled out a black set of pajamas and walked over to Ruka. He was looking at a picture of himself, Natsume, Aoi and Natsume's dad.

"This sure was a long time ago." Ruka said nostalgically.

Natsume clenched his fists. "…Yeah. Let's go." He walked towards the door.

Ruka stared at him, "We'll get her back Natsume. One day we'll all go home together." Natsume just nodded and went out the door Ruka followed him.

Then they walked back towards Ruka's three star room. It was 10 o'clock already so they decided to get ready for bed. Ruka went into the bathroom to change and Natsume used the bedroom. Ruka was just finished when he heard a cough from the bedroom.

Ruka ran out of the bathroom, "Are you okay Natsume?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Natsume said and turned towards Ruka, his shirt was still unbuttoned. Ruka saw his muscular torso and the bandage wrapped around his stomach. Natsume started buttoning his shirt and Ruka tore his gaze from the bandage.

Then they laid down in opposite sides of the bed. Natsume closed his eyes. They laid in silence for a couple of minutes. Ruka stared at Natsume. He looked so peaceful lying there like all stress had just been blown off his face the minute he closed his eyes. Ruka felt tears run down his cheeks, he sniffled.

"Why're you crying?" Natsume asked and opened his eyes to look at him. In that minute it was like all stress, pain and suffering returned to his face.

"It's so unfair." Ruka said, "You never did anything wrong. It shouldn't be like this."

"It's fine Ruka, there's nothing we can do about it." Natsume muttered.

"No, it's not fine! You're hurt."

Natsume reached out and stoked the tears off his face. "It's not that bad. Don't cry."

"It is bad! You could have died this time if Narumi hadn't gotten you to the hospital quick enough. Next time you really could die!" Ruka cried harder making Natsume try harder to stroke all the tears away at last he gave up.

"Shh… stop crying. It's going to be fine."

"But what if it isn't? I don't want you to die Natsume." Ruka said his voice muffled by his crying.

"I won't." Natsume said sounding confident, but under his façade he was already beginning to doubt his survival till gradation. He had promised himself that no one could know about him having the forth type of Alice, speciously Ruka. If Ruka knew then he would first of all worry all the time and second of all he would probably try harder to get Natsume out of the DA class, even if it means taking his place. Natsume didn't want that to happen. Natsume looked at Ruka he had finally stopped crying and was wiping his face with his hands.

_I'll never let anything happen to you. No matter how much I get hurt I can't let anything happen to you. I can't bear having more people die or get hurt around me. – Natsume thought._

"We'll go home together Natsume. Definitely." Ruka muttered exhausted from crying. His head slid down onto the pillow and he grabbed Natsume's hand.

"Natsume…" Ruka muttered as his eyes closed and he fell to sleep, much to Natsume's relief.

Natsume massaged his stomach as his wound started throbbing quietly. He laid on his back and stared into the ceiling. Ruka began snoring lightly beside him, his hand still hanging on to Natsume's. Natsume sighed wearily.

_What should I do? Everyday I feel the effect of my Alice. If it's already this bad then how am I going to survive the next 10 years? The missions are growing worse as I grow better at fighting, and I can't hide them from Ruka anymore because most of them last a week or something like that. I said to Ruka I wouldn't die but what point is there in living other than protecting everyone. What point do I have? Saving Aoi? Ruka? Everyone else? But if I succeed in doing that then what is left of me? I can take it for now; this nightmare I'm living must have an end somewhere even though I can't see it…_

He coughed for gods knows what time today. The taste of blood filled his mouth. He muffled the coughs with his sleeve because he didn't want to wake Ruka. The familiar warmth of blood seeped through his sleeve.

_Damn…_

His chest hurt and he breathed deeply to reduce the pain it was causing. His wound had also started hurting so he reached out to the bedside table and grabbed the pill bottle with painkillers he had put there before they went to sleep. He swallowed a couple of them and waited for about 20 minutes in pain before they began to work. A sort of numbness filled his system slowly working it's way all over his body.

Natsume eyes closed as exhaustion and the pills overwhelmed him.

_I'll fight it as long as I can…_

A hand grabbed his shoulder. Natsume rolled out of bed thinking it was an enemy; much to his surprise it was Ruka. Natsume heart raced in his chest from the shock. He was sitting on his knees on the floor beside the bed.

"Sorry." Ruka apologized and held a hand out to Natsume to help him up.

"It wasn't your fault."

"You were surprisingly long time in waking up, that's not like you. Did you take any pills before you went to sleep?" Ruka asked curiously.

Natsume sighed, "Yeah a couple. What time is it?"

"There's an hour till school. Do you want to go?"

"Yeah, might as well."

"Okay. Just say if it's too much."

Natsume headed towards the door, "I'm going to my room to change."

"Yeah see you." Ruka said and went to his own drawer.

Natsume closed the door behind him and went down the hall. He stopped outside his door and unlocked it. He went inside.

Natsume was on his way over to the drawer as he felt a hand wrap around his face and hold a cloth to his mouth.

_Shit!_

Natsume recognized that it was Persona's hand just before he lost consciousness.

He had just been to Natsume's room the first thing he noticed was Natsume's necklace flung carelessly on the floor. Natsume never took the necklace off so it bothered him. He picked it up and ran outside to look for him.

Ruka ran up to Narumi.

"He's taken him!" Ruka panicked, he was panting from running the whole way there.

"What are you talking about Ruka?" Narumi asked worried that something had happened to Natsume again.

"Natsume's gone I've looked everywhere, but I can't find him. I think Persona has him!" Ruka shouted with tears running down his cheeks.

"Shh… Calm down. You can't let everyone hear you." Narumi walked down the hall to an empty classroom. "Let's go in here."

"I shouldn't have let him go." Ruka began after he'd gone inside the classroom, "He was just going to get ready for school but he never came back."

"I don't get what-" Narumi remembered when Natsume had just woken up:

"_No more than a couple of hours. The sun is rising."_

"_Hn… Has he been here?" Natsume asked, meaning Persona._

"_No, why should he?" Narumi asked confused._

"_Never mind…"_

_Shit Persona must have said something to him when the flames surrounded me. Why didn't I realize this before? I'm such an idiot! – Narumi thought._

"Natsume's wounds haven't healed yet, he'll open them if he does anything physically straining." Ruka said worried. He had calmed down a lot from when they first started to talk till now.

"Don't worry Ruka I'm sure Natsume will be all right. You need to go to class. I'll look into things in the meantime."

"But-"

"I'll tell you as soon as I find him, I promise. But now you have to go to school." Narumi smiled.

Ruka reluctantly went out the door. If he hurried then he could be there in time for the second lesson.

_Please don't hurt him before I get there Persona! Couldn't you have waited until his wounds had healed till you did something to him? Wait for me Natsume! – Narumi thought as he ran towards the headquarters to speak with Persona._

**With Natsume**

Natsume woke up. He immediately felt the cold stone floor against his naked back. They had apparently removed his shirt; luckily his bandage was still on. He still felt a little groggy from the medicine on the cloth, but he still managed to sit up. Natsume recognized that place as one of the cells under the academy. It was a square room made of rock walls and one wall of bars. Natsume tried using his Alice but the barrier around the cell was to thick for him to penetrate.

His breath could be seen as fog in the air that's how cold it was. Natsume started shaking unfamiliar with the cold because his Alice used to warm him up all the time. Now the barrier was up his Alice was completely canceled.

_Couldn't you at least have waited a couple of days more so my wounds could heal before you decided to punish me? – Natsume thought bitterly._

"Ahh. Natsume you're awake. Finally." Persona stepped out from the shadows.

"What do you want?"

"To play a game." Persona smirked.

**With Narumi**

_Where are you Natsume? Where are you Persona? Come on! – Narumi thought._

Narumi ran from the headquarters, he had almost searched the whole place before he decided that Natsume wasn't there, Persona wasn't in his office either.

Narumi ran towards the northern forest, it was there he found them the last time. He ran around in circles shouting for Natsume and searching.

_Damn, it's already been too long. There's gone 3 hours from when I started searching for Natsume, they could be everywhere by now and Natsume could be lying hurt somewhere! I need to find him! He saved my life!_

Suddenly Narumi stopped Persona was in the clearing just in front of him. There was no sign of Natsume and Persona was turned towards Persona smirking at him. Narumi started walking he hesitated a little because he didn't know what Persona wanted, but this was the only way to find Natsume.

"Narumi, there you are. I was wondering when you would find me." Persona said.

Narumi stopped inside the clearing, "What have you done to Natsume?"

"I grow awfully bored sometimes you see, and today is just one of those days. So I decided to play a little game of hide and seek." Persona told.

Narumi looked dumbstruck at him, "What are you talking about?"

Persona sighed, "You see I hide something and you seek for it. In this case the item is Natsume."

"Human lives aren't something you play with!" Narumi protested.

"They are if they belong to me."

"Natsume doesn't belong to you."

"Oh, really the who does he belong to? Surely not you?" Persona laughed.

"Natsume doesn't belong to anyone."

"I thought we settled this last time. I made my mark on him so technically he's mine."

Narumi remembered the cross mark Persona slit in Natsume's skin.

Persona smiled at Narumi's troubled face, "I thought I would make it so that instead of Natsume saving you, you were going to save Natsume. Though Natsume was the one in the most danger last time and sadly this time too."

"What are you talking about?" Narumi asked confused.

"Oh right maybe you shouldn't use so much of Natsume's time talking with me after all he is dying. You see I gave him poison." Persona threw something at the feet of Narumi, "There is the antidote and a key. He dies within 6 hours so he should have about… 3 hours left. You should hurry though, it's a very painful poison."

"What! You son of a-" Narumi restrained himself and asked instead, "Do I get any clues?"

"It's cold." With that persona walked deeper into the forest and soon disappeared from view.

_Hold on Natsume I'm coming. – Narumi thought._


	3. finding

**With Natsume**

_That fucking bastard! God damn it this hurts! Who the hell does he think he is? That bastard! You didn't have to freaking give me poison you son of a bitch. Gahh! Damn this hurts! I hope Narumi hurries._

Natsume grimaced in pain as it felt as though his whole body was being stabbed. He moved his hand to his forehead and felt a high fever. He had sweat on his brow even though it was damn cold in the room. Natsume coughed, his coughs rung out through the cellar and echoed. His chest hadn't gotten better from lying on the cold stone floor for so long.

He wondered if Aoi was down here. He had tried shouting but there wasn't anyone who answered.

"Uggh…" Natsume moaned. The pain had gotten worse over time and he got dizzy just by sitting up. He gasped for air, it froze his lungs but he couldn't do without it.

He didn't how long time it had been since Persona came to give him the poison, but Persona had said that he had about 6 hours before he would die.

_I wonder how long time I have left._

Natsume had fought against Persona as much as he could but Persona was stronger than him and he was wounded plus the medicine from the cloth still had an effect on him. Persona had forced him down on the ground as Persona thrust a needle in his arm. Pain had hit him not long after that.

Natsume clutched his chest as burning pain raged inside it. He knew this didn't have anything to do with the poison this was his Alice. Natsume rolled over on his side and covered his mouth with his hand. Then he began coughing first quietly then gradually growing more and more violent.

When he finally stopped his hand was splattered with blood, he wiped it off in his trousers and gasped for air. It hurt so much both his Alice and the poison. He almost fainted the only thing keeping him awake was willpower.

_Fuck… Come quickly Narumi._

**With Narumi**

Narumi ran. An hour had already passed without him getting any closer to finding Natsume. He didn't know were to look, Persona could have hidden him anywhere.

'_It's cold' Natsume is somewhere cold, but where? How cold is cold? I mean Persona could just have put him in some refrigerator somewhere. Wait a minute! What about dungeons? That would be the perfect place to leave Natsume, that way no one would find him. Are there some dungeons I don't know of in the school? Natsume doesn't have time for me to search the school. Wait a minute! Ruka._

Narumi ran out of the building and towards the dorms. He found Ruka in his room; he jumped up from the bed as soon as he saw Narumi.

"Have you found him?" Ruka asked.

"No, I need your help."

"What can I help you with?"

Narumi began explaining the game to Ruka, leaving out that Natsume was poisoned.

"So I want you use your Alice to command some mice to search for the dungeon. Can you do that?" Narumi asked worried as time seamed to slip between his fingers.

"Of course. Come on!" Ruka took his coat on and went outside, he went a little bit into the forest because he didn't want anyone to see him use his Alice. He sat down on the forest floor and used his Alice to call the mice. After about 5 minutes a lot of mice came and sat down beside Ruka. He asked them if they would check the dungeons and find Natsume if he was there. The mice scattered and they were soon left alone in the forest.

"We have to wait for them to come back." Ruka said.

Narumi sat down beside him, "How long do you think it will take?"

"I don't know."

**With Natsume**

Natsume curled up and slid his fingers between his legs to warm them up. The only thing that could be heard in the cell was Natsume's teeth clattering and him gasping for air. He was shaking half because of pain and half because of cold.

The pain had grown worse. Natsume tried hard to push it to the back of his head, but he couldn't the pain was too strong for him to ignore, although he tried as much as he could. His face was etched in pain and concentration to ignore it. He could feel himself growing weaker as the fever raised and the pain got worse.

_What the hell does Narumi think he's doing! It'll end with me dying before he even gets close. Damn you Persona. _

"Uggh!" Natsume gritted his teeth as another wave of pain washed over him. His muscles tensed as it became impossible to relax. Natsume curled up tighter. Sweat rolled down the side of his face and his hands curled tight into a ball.

"Damn you Persona!" Natsume shouted the pain out.

After a while Natsume calmed down. By now all he had the strength to do was breathe and keep himself awake.

Suddenly a mouse came running through the bars and right up to Natsume. The mouse sniffed at him and then ran off again.

_Ruka…?_

**With Narumi**

Narumi walked around in circles impatiently. Natsume only had about half an hour to live and the mice still hadn't come back yet. They hadn't seen a single mouse since they left. Ruka was starting to get suspicious of why he was so worried about the time. He still hadn't told Ruka about the poison because he thought Ruka would panic if he knew. Pretty much what Narumi was doing now.

Suddenly a mouse came running into the forest. It sat down beside Ruka, and Ruka was apparently communicating with it.

"He found Natsume." Ruka said, "He's going to lead us to him. Come on."

Both of them were a little stiff after standing out in the cold for so long, but they ran as fast as they could after the mouse.

After about ten minutes the mouse stopped in front of nothing it seemed. The place was still inside the forest. Narumi saw a little crack in the grass and dug his hand under it. He pulled it upwards; apparently it was some kind of trapdoor.

"Go back to the dorms Ruka." Narumi told him.

"But-"

"That wasn't a question. Go back." Narumi ordered, he took a torch down from the wall and lit it. There was no electricity.

Then he started down the stairs. The steps creaked a little under his feet; it was obviously an old building. The farther he came down the colder it got. At the bottom he could see his breath. Narumi was cold even with his coat on.

First now Narumi noticed that the mouse had followed him down there. Now it came sprinting past him and into one of the tunnels. Narumi ran past training rooms, offices, and empty rooms, Narumi checked each room for Natsume. It was first in the end of the long tunnel that the cells began to come. The mouse kept running further. It first stopped at the very end of the hall. Narumi skidded to a halt ad looked inside the cell. There laid Natsume.

"Natsume!" Narumi called.

Natsume opened his pain struck eyes, "…Sure as hell… took you long enough…"

Narumi stared at Natsume; he was lying on the cold stone floor with no shirt on. His shivering breaths could be seen in front of his mouth. Narumi stared at the nearly unconscious boy, his face was pale and he was obviously having a fever.

_How can anyone be so cruel to leave an 8 year old here alone with poison in his system and in this cold? _

A groan escaped Natsume's lips as his face grimaced in pain. First then Narumi woke up from his daze. He fished the key and the antidote out of his pocket. He unlocked the door and ran inside. By then Natsume was gasping for breath. Narumi turned Natsume on his back, lifted his head and poured the antidote into his mouth. Of course Natsume choked on it and he had to cough for a little while. When he was done he just laid there with his eyes closed. Narumi placed his hand on Natsume's forehead. He had a higher fever than anything Narumi had ever handled.

Natsume teeth were clattering so Narumi took his own coat off and laid it over Natsume, his own cold forgotten. Natsume pulled the coat closer in around him.

"How long have I… Been down here…?" Natsume asked shivering.

"About 6 hours, I made it just in time."

"It's damn cold… Down here…"

_Yeah, you're practically blue about everywhere. It wouldn't surprise me if you got a cold or pneumonia or something like that. _

"Natsume! Wake up. You can't fall asleep down here."

Natsume gazed tiredly at him.

"Did the antidote work?" Narumi asked.

Natsume nodded and coughed.

"Come on let's get out of here before Persona comes knocking."

Natsume sat up and put Narumi's coat on properly. The sleeves were too long for him so he had something to warm his hands in.

"Before I come? That's a little too late for you." Suddenly Persona stood on the other side of the bars. Before Narumi could react, he rotted the old key and locked the door. "It was fun playing with you. Goodbye."

Persona faded into the shadows and was gone as soon as he came. Narumi quickly got up to try and open the door. He stood there for a couple of minutes shouting courses and shaking the door. Of course it didn't budge. When he got tired of it he went over to sit beside Natsume. Natsume was resting his forehead on his knees, and had his arms wrapped tightly around his legs. He was still shaking but not as much as before. His feet were still bare though.

After a while Natsume lifted his head and got up. He walked over to the door, supporting himself to the wall the whole way. The he finally slumped down on his knees in front of the lock. He studied to lock for a while.

"What are you doing Natsume? You can't use your Alice because of the barrier." Narumi asked.

"Who said I couldn't? This is the only option we have. Unless you have some smart trick hidden up your sleeve."

"…"

"Exactly, useless."

"You're sick Natsume. You can't do this." Narumi argued.

"Wow really? I didn't even notice." Natsume answered ironically.

"I'm serious here Natsume."

"Shut up! I can't concentrate."

Narumi grumbled to himself but sat down again nevertheless. Natsume focused on using his Alice, nothing happened at first but then with the energy of what he could have made 20 flames with he managed a small flame. He put his hand over the lock and slowly began to melt the metal. Natsume rested his head against the bars and gritted his teeth as the energy left him and his forth type began causing him pain. He held himself up with the help of the metal bars.

Halfway through Natsume gasped. His hand slipped off the bars and the flame disappeared as he began coughing. First calmly and then growing more and more violent until his hand was spotted with blood.

"Natsume! Are you okay?" Narumi panicked and hurried up to him. His eyes grew wide when he saw the blood around Natsume's mouth and on his hand.

"Natsume!"

"Shut up…" Natsume panted. His hand reached inside the jacket in reflex only to find out that the necklace with Alice stones wasn't there. It was probably somewhere in his room. He guessed that Persona had taken it off him when he took off his shirt. Narumi saw his action and remembered the necklace Ruka gave him. He fished it up from his pocket.

"Is this what you're looking after?" Narumi showed him the necklace.

"Yeah…" Natsume took the necklace and hung it around his neck. As soon as Natsume touched it, it started glowing. "Where did you get it?"

"Ruka found it in your room. What Alice is it?"

"Healing Alice…" Natsume closed his eyes and leaned his back against the bars as he clutched the necklace tightly. The pain was slowly dampening. A little color went back into his pale face after a couple of minutes. He opened his deep red eyes to look at Narumi. Narumi was staring concerned at him.

"Are you okay?" He asked Natsume.

"Yeah… I'm fine." Natsume muttered.

"I don't believe you. …You have the forth type of Alice Natsume." Narumi stated quietly not entirely sure of it was true.

"…" The silence confirmed his assumption.

"How long has it been like this Natsume? You're only in the first year and you're already in this condition. How much have you been forced to use your Alice?"

Natsume didn't answer the questions; he just rolled his eyes and turned his attention to the lock again. He had managed to melt half of the lock before he began coughing. Natsume moved his hand to the lock. Narumi quickly sensed what he was about to do so he quickly snatched Natsume's hand away from the lock.

"Don't use your Alice Natsume! You're already in this condition. There's no reason to make it worse. The barrier is too strong even I can't use my Alice down here. You waste too much of your life on this." Narumi argued.

Natsume stared irritated at him and then pulled his hand out of Narumi's grasp. "I won't die, not yet. Both of us are going to get sick if we stay down here in this cold for too long." Natsume said and coughed

_He's thinking about me… He's thinking more about saving me than saving himself. You are sick Natsume, very sick. You've laid down here without a shirt for 6 hours and now you're worried if I'm cold… You're shivering like a crazy and your teeth are clattering yet you don't seem to mind. But your right in one thing, we need to get you out of the cold as soon as possible. – Narumi thought._

Natsume raised his shaking hand to the lock again, and melted the other half of the lock. He gasped and clutched his chest as a burning pain started. He didn't cough up blood this time.

He grabbed hold of the necklace again and fell down on his side. He waited for the pain to go away again. Narumi went over to the door and opened it. Then he turned back at Natsume.

"Unbelievable, you did it." Narumi smiled. The smile soon vanished though as Natsume didn't answer him. Narumi ran over to him. "Natsume! You can't sleep here." He shook Natsume's shoulder until Natsume opened his exhausted eyes to look at him. Narumi looked worried at him and then pulled Natsume's arm over his shoulder. Narumi helped Natsume up and began half dragging him and half supporting him towards the exit. Natsume didn't have the strength to oppose so he just went with it. He was constantly coughing so Narumi suspected he had gotten pneumonia.

They came to the exit fairly quickly considering all the times they had to take a break so Natsume could catch his breath. Natsume squinted as they came out of the cellar it was evening. Narumi dragged Natsume towards the dorms. Luckily for Natsume they weren't so far away from the cellar.

There were no students in the hall as they stepped into it. All of them were down for dinner. So they quietly made their way the Natsume's room at the end of the hall. The door wasn't locked so they just went right in. Natsume took his arm off Narumi's shoulder and used the wall as support to get to the drawer. Natsume took Narumi's coat off and gave it to Narumi.

"Thanks." Narumi said.

Natsume felt his wound hurt again so he ran his hand over the bandages. Then he took a big sweater on and some socks. Natsume went into the bathroom and swallowed a lot of different pills. When he came out he saw that Narumi was still in the room.

Natsume ignored him. He coughed and laid down on the bed shivering. He pulled the comforter up around him. He was completely exhausted and sick.

"By the way," Narumi said waking Natsume who had just dozed off a little, "What was that cellar used for?"

"DA headquarters… Training and punishment. …Goodnight." Natsume muttered and fell asleep.

"Goodnight." Narumi stood up went to the door; he turned off the lights and locked the door. "Thank you again Natsume." He whispered.

Natsume slept for about 24 hours before he got admitted to the hospital. Narumi was right it was pneumonia so Natsume had to stay there for about a week.


End file.
